Nowadays, the average consumer has many tools at their disposal (i.e. credit cards, debit cards, rewards cards, etc.) stuffed in his/her wallet or billfold. Aside from the personal identification cards such as a driver's license, most people carry multiple credit cards, debit cards, promotional cards, and discount cards for various functions including financial transactions, cash retrievals, and money transfers. For example, according to creditcards.com, the average consumer in the U.S. possesses at least three separate credit cards.
It can be bewildering and burdensome to carry around many cards. When a consumer has multiple credit cards, debit cards, promotional cards, and discount cards, it is more likely that he/she would be confused as to which card serves what purpose, the limit on each card, the benefits of each card, and so forth. It is also more difficult to manage one's finances when multiple cards are carried around and used. A user probably would not be able to accurately track the use of a particular card for each transaction. For example, when a rarely-used card is employed to pay for a small purchase, the consumer may forget that the card was ever used, subjecting the consumer to possible transactional charges such as late fees.
Moreover, it can be unsafe to carry many cards/cash on your person. When the user takes one card out of the wallet, another card may be inadvertently dragged out and lost, subjecting the user to fraudulent financial transactions. An even greater risk emerges when a consumer loses his/her wallet and the entire collection of cards. Since the overwhelming majority of such cards do not have further security measures implemented, the user may suffer fraudulent charges as well as be exposed to identity theft. If a person is to use cash instead of a credit based system, the cash that can be stolen is essentially untraceable.
The current invention and its embodiments provides solutions to the above indicated problems. The tokenless transaction system introduced here permits the user to secure the relevant information regarding all of his/her credit card, debit cards, promotion cards, and discount cards in a single account. The tokenless transaction system reduces confusion by allowing the user to put away the physical copies of most of his/her cards. The user no longer needs to carry all the cards.
In the same manner, the chances to have a card lost or stolen are reduced, bolstering the security of the user's financial information. Moreover, when the user is fully verified with the system, the user can access the system through biometric recognition technologies such as fingerprint scanner or facial recognition. Such a “no card” access significant improves the security of the user's financial information.
Review of Related Technology:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,463,710 pertains to a tokenless biometric method for processing electronic transmissions, using at least one user biometric sample, an electronic identifier and an electronic rule module clearinghouse. The steps for processing of the electronic transmissions comprise of a user registration step, wherein a user registers with an electronic identifier at least one registration biometric sample taken directly from the person of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,090,657 pertains to a system for authentication of financial transactions using a remote terminal includes apparatus for sampling a unique biological identifier of a system user. The system has particular relevance to credit card or other electronic funds transfer transactions whereby the user may complete a transaction over the Internet, or at a merchant's remote terminal by using a unique biological identifier in place of the credit card. The unique biological identifier is preferably a finger print which is read by a camera at the personal computer or remote terminal. The image is digitized and forwarded to a clearing house to identify the appropriate account for the required transaction to be processed.
U.S. Patent Application 2010/0212253 pertains to an all in one card, an arrangement and methods for contact- and contactless-services, e.g. payments, money transfer, electronic tickets or identity cards. The all in one card comprises a point of service interface for communication with a point of service, a card database, a mobile terminal interface for connect the card to a mobile terminal connectable to a telecommunication network. The card database can be controlled by the mobile terminal. The card database is configured for storing data and the card data can be accessed via the point of service interface. The date stored in the card database relates to e.g. bank cards, credit cards, identification, tickets, electronic money, identification 15 cards. The invention also comprises a mobile terminal (MT) suitable for communication with the card.
Various implements are known in the art, but their structures are distinctively different from the current invention. Moreover, the prior arts fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. The present invention and its embodiments allow for a user to conduct financial transactions without the need for cash or credit cards and the like. The present invention further uses a number of security measures to protect the user's identity. One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.